Method and apparatus for preparing and binding books



Aug. 4, 1959 A. J. ALLEGRETTI ET AL METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PREPARINGAND BINDING Bo0Ks 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 14, 1957 9% 1 W} LN. Mllll v||l|||| I I HHH m u m m N n W mouul lllll I! n llJ u N IIIINWI I QQ 6 Q n u b W k N l I. m {1.1% M m m m m m :I.. Y

Au 4, 1959' A. J. ALLEGRETTI ET AL 2,897,523

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PREPARING AND BINDING BOOKS Filed Oct. 14,195'! 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR5. A/V/WO/W J. ALAEGif/T/ /yhwoA/fl P.756,747?

nited States Paten Ill., assignors to TheCuneo Press,"Inc., Chicago,111;, "a 'corporation' of Illinois Application October '14, 1957, SerialNo."6s9,s9s

. T s l nt onf la '0 t d f d n an seve ing books and the like, andfh'asfor one object to make it possible to increase the versatility "ofp'rinting press equipment by printing two up and binding sidewire orpatent fbound books one-half size, wherein two pages are printedsimultaneously side by's'ide on the same 'sheet and "whereinsubsequently, either before 'or after "separationthe pages are cut apartand separately bound. Ordinarily, 'when a "signature is assembled and' aplurality of signatures are'broug'ht together in a gathering machine,the signatures are bound together by side'wire binding or. patentbinding "and the book lis thereafter trimmed. Under ordinarycircums'tances, the binding, whether it be side'wire 'or patent, isplaced along the left hand side of the book as you look down limit, andthe book then fgoeso'n through the processes for'final delivery. Underthese circumstancea thebinding' of the signaturesinto abook takes placealongfone side, and when the book is trimmed, it isre'a'dy fordistribution.

This invention involves ,first;printing ,on each sheet of the signaturetwo bookpage s where thelines of type are parallel instead ofperpendicular to'the'fold line. Then the ,book or assembly of signatureswill'be stitched,'preferably by'sidewirestitching, as they-lie flat,'thestitch being fat thefold, but. each sheet has'bn it two :pages of thebook instead of one. The purpose of stitching at the signature is tohold the book together for further manipulation. Once this has beendone, the book will be rotated through an angle of ninety degrees withthe stitching at the head or at the foot of the page as the case may be.Then the book is cut apart between the pages, the sidewire binding beingstill left at the foot or at the head of the two pages. Then one bookwill be fed forward, the remaining book will come down into line withthe first one, and then the successive books will be fed through thestitcher and into the covering machine. Before the books reach thecovering machine, they will be trimmed, preferably on the three sidesbut, in any event, on the side along which the first stitching wasapplied. Thus, the original stitching is really a phantom or disposablestitch, being there for the sole purpose of holding the book togetheruntil it can be severed, stitched in the proper place, and covered.

The sequence of covering and severing the two books may be varied. Thebooks might be cut apart and then stitched and then covered, or theymight be stitched and covered before they are cut apart. The essentialpoint is that, after the book has been assembled by the proper stitchingbefore or after covering, the two books will be severed. If desired, thehead and foot may be reversed in the two books. In that case, the coversmight be applied simultaneously, and then after the cover has beenapplied, one book would have the first page up and the other book wouldhave the last page up. The cover can be severed or cut apart just as thebooks are, as part of the trimming operation.

It is convenient to hold the signatures together to form a book bystitching. This might be sidewire stitching, or

saddle stitchingor clampsjor'pins might be used. An v nt lQf' Q l i ibychin ,iflha since. he oo must be; trimmed any way, trimming discards thephantom bindingor holding means', the on1y loss, being fa possible'slight increase in the 'amountf of paper removed and the necessity oftwosu'ccessive stitching toperations.

The invention is illustrated nior'ebr 'le'ssfliagr'animati- C ll nf' accm ny r n s. he i I have shown three'possible variations, all having the's'ame general "characteristic, "namely; that the book {is originallybouhd'orjstitched or held along'onejside, the head or foot'side' of theprinting, is then manipulated sothattwo sides of'the signatures or'book'will jbe bound. The two sides 'will"'be separately covered andbefore or "after" such bindingand covering, the two books will be cutapart and theforiginal stitching discarded.

Figure l is a flow sheet illustrating one solution of the problem;

Figure 2 is a flow sheet illustrating a somewhat different solution;

,'Figure 3 is a flow sheet dis'closing a modification of the method ofFigure 2; v a

Figure 4is'a detail section through a part of. the covering machine.

Like parts are indicated by likecliaracters throughout the specificationanddrawings. v

Referring first'toFigure l, stationAis a plan view of'the printedmaterial asit will appear in thegathering machine stand, it beingunderstood'that'this printed material includes a plurality ofsignatures, arranged one on top 'of'the other, 'the 'signat'ur'es beingseparately folded along the line 1, this'beingthe usual'fold of thesignatu're. In this case, the fold is along the foot of the book. Thisassembled .book is then fed into "the inachine trough atst'ati'on B,beingstitched along thefline 2, adjacent the fold andlying flat. 3indicates the drive chain anddthe pin which propels the book along thetrough. At station C, the book contacts a fulcrum pin 5, andis'rot'atedthrough an angle of niiiety degree's'int'o the position shown at stationD. There, the two books may be cut apart along the line 6. We have nowseparated the books into books A and books B, both books beingidentically arranged. Book B will then be carried forward in station E.Book A will be pushed down into line with the carrying chain and willfollow book B in station E, then as each successive book passes alongthe trough, each one is separately stitched as at 7. The books go oninto the covering machine, are covered in the usual manner and, atstation F, are trimmed, the trim cutting 01f the stitching 2 and theedges, shown in dotted lines, and leaving the stitching 7 along thebroader edge of the book, namely: the left-hand side as you open thepages.

Referring now to Figure 2, station A is the same as in Figure 1 exceptthat, in this case, the two books are invented head to foot asindicated, folded in exactly the same Way. They then go down into thetrough of the machine at station B, are stitched along line 2--2,contact the fulcrum pin or stop 5, to be flipped around through an angleof ninety degrees, to enter station D, but here-- unlike Figure 1, thebooks are not cut apart. One book is stitched as at 8 and so, now, bothbooks are stitched along one side, the head and foot, and one book isstitched along one side. Then, in station D", the two books are rotatedthrough one hundred eighty degrees, and the top book is stitched at 8.The book then enters station F, being held by the clamp 10, is presentedto the gluing roll at 11, and covered in the usual way. The book is thenreleased, enters station G, is rotated one hundred eighty degrees intothe carrier clamp of the second carrying machine, which works just as instation F to cover the opposite book. The book then enters station H,

where the two books are cut apart as at 6 and the three sides aretrimmed or, if desired, the head and foot are first trimmed and then cutapart for the finish operation.

The turning or flipping of the book can be accomplished by any of thesuitable available book handling mechanisms now in common use and nothere illustrated in detail. In Figures 1 and 2, I have illustrated asituation where the book, as it goes through the stitching, covering andgluing method, is generally vertical.

Figures 3 and 4 show a modified arrangement of the method of Figure 2.In this case, the book, having left station D, enters station I, beingstitched at 8 and 2 as before. Here, the book is horizontal. It passesbetween hold-down rollers 110 and is presented to edgewise glueapplicator rollers 12, and then is covered in the covering machine. Inthis case, the book 13 at station E is provided with a one-piece cover14in the previous exemplica-tion, there were two covers, one for eachside. This cover will be wrapped around the book by any suitable means,which forms no part of the invention, and the book and cover will thenbe cut apart along the line 15.

In Figure 4, the book 13 is presented to the vertical rollers 12 withthe cover hold-down rollers 11 holding the book against the glue roller.The glue pump 16 will discharge glue through the duct 17 and nozzles'18, against the roller, the doctor blade 19 will insure a proper levelof glue, and the remaining glue will be returned to the pump.

It is important that where in the past it has been customary to print aplurality of pages in the signature where the fold line wasperpendicular to the line of type in the column, in this invention wepropose to increase the capacity or the availability of the press byfirst printing the pages or columns with the lines of type parallel tothe fold line. Then we stitch the phantom or expendible stitches orbinding along the fold line merely for the purpose of holding theassembly together so that we can thereafter rotate the assembly throughan angle of ninety degrees in the plane of the sheet, after which thepages are bound together by binding perpendicular to the lines of type,that is-perpendicular to the phantom binding 4 after which either asbefore or in addition to the trimming action, the phantom or expendiblebinding is cut away and the separate books may be separated before orafter the binding perpendicular to the line of type is applied.

We claim:

1. The method of binding books which includes assembling a stack ofsignatures, each having a plurality of parallel printed pages arrangedside by side, head to head and foot to foot, binding the signaturestogether on a side parallel to the printed lines by disposable stitchingrotating the signatures through an angle of ninety degrees, cutting thesignatures apart between adjacent pages to form separate books, aligningthe separated books each held together by the disposable stitching, onebook behind the other, then binding each book along an edgeperpendicular to the printed lines, and then trimming to remove thedisposable stitching.

2. The method of binding books which includes assembling a stack ofsignatures, each having a plurality of parallel printed book pagesarranged side by side, head to foot and foot to head, binding thesignatures together on a side parallel to the printed lines bydisposable stitching, rotating the signatures through an angle of ninetydegrees, binding the signatures along opposite edges, perpendicular tothe printed lines, cutting the signatures apart between the pages toform separate books and then trimming to remove the disposablestitching.

3. The method of binding books which includes assembling a stack ofsignatures, each having a plurality of printed book pages arranged sideby side, binding the signatures together along one side parallel to theprinted lines by a disposable stitching, rotating the signatures throughan angle of ninety degrees, binding the pages together along lines,associated with each of the book pages, perpendicular to the disposablestitching, trimming the book and discarding the disposable stitching.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,463,769 Higgins Mar. 8, 1949 2,634,438 Pitner Apr. 14, 1953 2,645,795Pitner July 21, 1953

